griznative24 said:
LOL I'm sorry but what makes you say that. The O line is mediocre, the recievers mediocre, the qb situation is clouded at best, and the defense has a habit of giving up big plays to good teams. The Griz running backs are elite, but that doesn't make up for everything else.
The o-line is not mediocre.
It varied between good and pretty good, with a couple weaker games. It had 2 all-conference players, both of whom return. It has lots of good young players. A good transfer is coming. 3 frosh were signed so far. It will be better next year.
O-Line performance was definitely all over the board. Weeb's flat manhandled them. Bobby said so himself. Bozeman didn't have an first team all-conference guy despite being conference champ, conference rushing champ, and what - second in the nation in rushing. Throwing around all-conference status as a sign of prowess, just seems a little weak. The guy almost no one talks about, Walker, got better every week of the season - its too bad he only had one year. Against NDSU, they were definitely getting a push, but inexplicably went away from running the ball when only down by one. Four or five sacks and a pair of interceptions later... As for the recruits, we can only hope they stick. There have been a lot of transfers. And there's a reason for that - look at the rosters from 2017 - 2020 for yourself. The Stitt years were no better. It seems like they are tough to keep for long enough to develop into players at this level.
Receivers are better than mediocre, but need to be better.
Receivers were the best group Pease ever coached. Said so himself. I actually laughed when I heard that. "The ball went where it should go", said at many press conferences, in relation to the passing game. I think what that really meant was the passing offense was conservative, and that there was a reason there wasn't enough dialed up for your actual stars - Bergen and Grossman. Headscratcher, for sure given Bergen was a proven game breaker. Net/Net, so few explosive plays over the course of the season. How many did NDSU and SDSU manufacture themselves this past weekend?
Two burners and the rest possession receivers asked to make contested catches down the sidelines. I can't hang it all on the receivers, I don't think the game plans took advantage of the spaces in between the numbers. It was almost like the middle of the field, or the TE's for that matter, even existed. And you can also go back and watch Grossman, teams knew he was one of a couple of threats, meaning he was covered by safeties and nickel corners frequently. Perhaps the biggest question, where were the game breakers - Akem, Toure and JLM in this group? Rosenbach leaned on them hard. One star, and hopefully some potential.
QB situation is looking pretty good to me.
Got one at this point who's been through two FBS programs, which I think may be a plus, one known and a whole passel of unknowns. But you're pretty sure that if Johnson hadn't been hurt, which was highly unlikely given the nature of running quarterbacks - see bozeman, that everything would have been sunshine and lollipops. Here's to the guy getting through the season unscathed.
The Griz D wasn't as consistently good late in the season, but really only played poorly against Cats and NDSU.
The whole team came out flat against bozeman & SEMO. I know that wasn't in your post, but it had to have been a factor in how the season turned. How would you explain that when they had everything to play for? Perhaps I already have my answer, no they weren't flat.
Flowers and Bergen changed the game against SEMO because they had no real answer for the offense. The curb stomping at bozeman isn't an indication of statistical deviation, they simply couldn't get off a block, take an angle and make a tackle. Sometimes, the other team is just better. They had no answer for the offense that bozeman ran against everyone. So they just kept keeping on, hoping for the best, out-toughing them would have to do.
Make part of your analysis how long they were on the field in critical spots. Forty-two minutes against the spuds, forty minutes against bozeman. Any help at all from the offense and they beat the spuds, and arent utterly embarrassed at bozeman. 140 yards against Weebs. They played well enough to win at Sac State, which only had the ball twenty two minutes, and minus a bad call and missing the reason the season was such a disappointment, an oft-injured quarterback who they went to week after week because they didn't believe they had anything or anyone else who could help win.
One more thing for another of your insightful posts. Are you going to include the number of mishandled kickoffs, and missed or blocked extra points in your analysis of special teams? This wasn't anything close to the normal year for special teams based on looking back at the body of work for the past five seasons. They contributed to more loses this season than the kickoff and punt returns of Flowers and Bergen contributed to wins.
I think the key to finishing above sixth in the conference next season has to do with being able to run the ball well and pass effectively. They've got four good backs, including the new freshman that showed up in the most recent class. There are a couple of receivers who might not have seen time due to injury or class, but may have opportunities to shine. All of that's going to require some kind of strategy and tactical change for the offense. No more pillow fight blocking schemes or balls simply going to the places they should go. Explosive plays change games, and if you can't manufacture them on offense, you're not going to do well. I definitely see some stars on the offense, and hopefully they'll get the touches that they deserve. This past season proved beyond a reasonable doubt that it's going to be tough to meet expectation, without them.
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